Update Regarding the Superintendent Search from the BOE President

Goal: To hire the best candidate for the position that will support the vision and mission of the Liverpool Central School District to serve our students, staff, and community.

The process of selecting the next School Superintendent started in late 2021 with selecting a consultant to guide the Board and District through the Superintendent Search process.  The Board selected Dr. Bill Christensen of McPherson & Jacobson (M&J), a national professional search firm, to provide that guidance.

Due to the highly competitive market and the District’s desire to attract the best and most highly qualified candidate, it is important to note that confidentiality is crucial to protecting the potential pool of interested candidates. It is of high importance of the Board of Education to share the progress of the search with the community while protecting the confidence of the candidates in the process.

That being stated, the following is an update of where we are in the search process as of February 11, 2022:

• Dr. Christensen provided a search kick-off with the Board on January 10th.
• Position has been actively posted since January 28th and will close on February 25th.
• The post has been advertised nationally, statewide, through professional educational organizations, and through numerous social media outlets, as well as direct email and communications with potential candidates.
• Currently six (6) applications have been completed and submitted to M&J
• Our Community Survey has been active since January 24th and has been extended to February 18th to maximize community participation.
  • The link for the survey has been distributed, re-distributed, and posted on the District Website.  The community is encouraged to participate in this short survey to provide input on what they feel is important for a potential candidate to know about us.
  • As of February 11th, there have been 313 participants, which is an excellent response, but more are welcome to contribute.
• District and Parent Zoom Meetings have been ongoing and continue to be set up for additional stakeholder feedback.
  • 22 different bargaining, parent, and district groups have been invited to participate with the potential of 44 meetings;
  • 77 different time slots have been offered for greater flexibility in stakeholder schedules;
  • As of February 11th, 14 meetings have been completed with another 6 scheduled for this week (week of 2/14).
• Open Forum Zoom Meetings:
  • Up to 4 evening times will be created for community zoom participation in an open forum format.  These times will be advertised as soon as possible.
• Following the collection process resulting from the survey and stakeholder meetings, M&J will create a summary report that will be shared with the community and the participants. It will also be posted on the District website Superintendent Search page.    
•  In early March, M&J and the Board will meet in Executive Session to discuss the applicants and finalize interview timeline.
• It is anticipated interviews will start in March, with finalists identified and named in April (tentatively).
• As we progress, all dates will be finalized in a Board of Education workshop with the consultant and publicly posted when finalized.
• The Board will provide updates in the Board Meetings to keep the community updated throughout the process.

The Board wants to emphasize how important your voice is in this process and we wish to encourage you to participate in every way possible.  If you are interested in participating in any of the above mentioned opportunities, or have a question, comment, or concern, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Christensen at the email below:

Bill Christensen consult@edsystemsconsulting.org    

We look forward to you joining us in this journey to the selection of our next Superintendent.

On behalf of the Board of Education,
Craig J. Dailey, President